Q is for Quinceañera
Rating K+ for violence
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs' Claudia Gomez. I did make up her family.
Author's Note: During the 2007 Summer Alphabet Challenge, I did a lot of stories about the minor characters. Here's the first one about Claudia.
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Americans speak highly of a girl's "Sweet Sixteenth" birthday. However, the Mexicans did more than talk about a girl's "Sweet Fifteen", her Quinceañera. They celebrated in high style. Sometimes they were full of as much ceremony and grandeur, and expense, as a wedding.
Cesar Gomez was determined that his Claudia would have the best Quinceañera that El Paso, Texas had ever seen. He booked the banquet hall of Claudia's favorite restaurant and went over the menu with the executive chef. There would be dancing, a local band and a cake big enough to conceal a long horn steer.
"Cesar! You are spending too much money," Sarita Gomez complained. "We can have the Quinceañera here!" she indicated their ranch style house with a sweeping gesture.
"But, Querida!" Cesar protested. "The restaurant is much larger; there will be more room for dancing. It's centrally located, so our guests will have shorter drives."
Sarita opened her mouth.
"And we won't have to clean up afterwards."
That was the winning argument.
But not the last word.
"Honestly, Cesar, you will bankrupt us! We must be more restrained in our spending."
"Sarita! How often does our daughter turn fifteen?"
THAT was the last word.
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Of course, an event of such significance is not complete unless the girl is dressed to the nines. Better yet, the nine hundreds.
When they returned from shopping, Claudia squealed and ran to her father. "Papa! Look at this beautiful dress!" She displayed the pale gold Jessica McClintock gown. "And look at the shoes!"
"Manolo Blahnik, no doubt?" Cesar asked with a cocked eyebrow. He had overheard many discussions over the different designer shoes in the months after his daughter had turned fourteen.
"Aren't they beautiful, Papa?" Claudia enthused. "I feel like a princess!"
Her older brother, Emilio gave a bark of laughter from the kitchen. "A princess of the troll people, no doubt." He came into the room and looked at the dress sardonically. Then he smirked at his sister.
Claudia stuck her tongue out at him.
"Emilio! Be nice to your sister!" Sarita scolded. "Claudia, go try on your treasures so you can show your papa!"
Claudia danced up the stairs. Emilio rolled his eyes and returned to the kitchen.
Cesar gave his wife an ironic look. "What happened to being more restrained in our spending?" he asked.
"The dress is very practical," Sarita said complacently. She smoothed her skirt down. "It will go nicely with my sapphire jewelry, so we will save money on that. Besides, she did not make even one tiny protest that it completely covered her chest."
Cesar shook his head. "Couldn't you have found a less expensive dress?" he asked.
Sarita beamed at her husband. "Cesar! How often will our daughter turn fifteen?"
Again, that was the end of the discussion.
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The mysterious package arrived by messenger a few days later.
"It's for me," Claudia said, bewildered.
"Well, open it, child!" urged her mother.
Inside the cardboard box was a velvet box. Inside the velvet box dwelt a gold tiara with Swarovski crystals the color of sapphires.
Claudia's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Oh, it's beautiful! She flung her arms around her father, and then her mother. "Oh, it's soooo beautiful! Thank you! I'll have to try it on with my outfit!"
She didn't dance upstairs this time. She jetted.
Cesar and Sarita exchanged bewildered looks. With one accord, they both looked at Emilio.
"I thought you were saving for a new car!" Cesar said to his first-born.
Emilio shrugged. "There will be cars next year! How often does my little troll of a sister turn fifteen?"
His parents opened their mouths, but neither could come up with a counter argument.
Sarita sighed. "Do you think that perhaps we spent too much on this?" she asked.
Cesar and Emilio had a few minutes to think this over before Claudia returned.
They all stared.
An excited child had bolted up the stairs mere minutes before. A young woman returned down them with graceful dignity.
The pale gold gown clung to her slender figure. The dark gold Manolos peeped out from the hem. Matching gold gloves covered her arms to her elbows. Her mother's jewelry glittered in the light from the windows and her new tiara shown like a star.
"How do I look?" Claudia asked shyly.
"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" Emilio blurted out.
Claudia fell onto the couch, laughing.
Emilio turned red. "I'll have to bring a baseball bat in order to keep the little boys in line," he muttered. "None of these losers is good enough for my little sister!"
Cesar and Sarita smiled at each other. "No, Sarita, I think we spent just the right amount."
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The Quinceañera was everything a girl could dream of. The food was divine. The band was on the top of their game. The dancers may not have been professionals, but they had a great time.
The cake impressed all with its elegance.
After dancing most of the night away, Emilio had to take a break. He stepped out onto the restaurant's terrace for a breath of cool air. He found his sister outside, leaning against the railing that separated the terrace from the gardens.
"Hermanita!" Emilio said. "You're tired of being the toast of the town yet?"
Claudia laughed. "No, silly, I'm just taking a breather. The band is taking a cake break, so I thought I'd catch my breath."
"You're feeding the band as well, truly a generous woman," Emilio joked, knowing full well that their mother was the one who insisted on feeding the band.
Claudia laughed.
"Are your feet killing you?" Emilio asked.
Claudia shook her head. "The shoes are fine," she insisted. "The real problem is these stupid gloves. I keep getting food all over them!" she brushed her hands together and crumbs spattered onto the floor and the outdoor tables that filled most of the terrace.
Emilio laughed. "Well, they look nice, anyway," he said. "And, yes, you look like a princess."
"I feel like a princess!" Claudia said.
"Funny, she looks like a mark to me," a rough voice from the garden.
Before the Gomez siblings could react, a dark figure vaulted the railing and approached.
Just then, the band started playing again. They all knew that nobody would hear anything.
"Give me your money," the mugger said, pointing a pistol at Emilio.
Emilio took a deep breath. If he had been alone, he might have been tempted to fight. However, he didn't want to risk his sister getting hurt. Therefore, he pulled out his wallet.
"Lay it on the table," the mugger said, gesturing with his gun.
Emilio complied and the mugger turned his attention to Claudia. "Give me the bling, sister, and nobody gets hurt!"
Claudia gasped and stepped back.
Instinctively, Emilio jumped between her and the mugger.
Startled, the mugger jerked back and jerked the trigger.
It was hard to say who was the most shocked.
"Emilio!" screamed Claudia.
"Give me the bling!" howled the mugger.
Claudia yanked off her necklace, earrings and tiara and flung them, one at a time, to the mugger. "Now go already!" she screamed.
They could hear shouts from inside.
The mugger scooped up his loot and ran.
Claudia focused on her brother. "Emilio! Emilio! Hang on, help is coming!"
"Claudia…" Emilio tried to get up.
"Lie still," Claudia found the bleeding. Emilio's leg had a gaping hole in it and all she could think about was the major vein that might now be letting her brother's lifeblood spray out.
She put her hands over the wound, but the blood merely soaked the fingers of her ridiculously long gloves.
The gloves!
She ripped them off and knotted them together. Using one of her Manolos for a lever, she twisted her improvised tourniquet in an effort to stop the bleeding.
"Hang on, Emilio," she pleaded. She barely registered the people pouring out of the restaurant.
She only noticed the EMTs when her father gently pulled her away from her brother. "No! Emilio! You be all right!"
The trip to the hospital was mercifully short. An unanticipated advantage of the restaurant that they had chosen was its proximity to the city's emergency services.
Claudia sat between her parents, having changed her bloody fairy tale princess dress for clean scrubs. She stared at her hands with a sense of bemusement.
Her heart was pounding. Her stomach felt queasy. Her knees felt like jelly, but her hands…
Her hands were rocks.
How could her hands be so steady? Clearly, she had changed from a little girl who believed in fairy tale endings, but what had she changed into?
The surgeon came out before Claudia could begin to assimilate her epiphany.
"Gomez family?" he asked.
The three surged to their feet.
"I'm Dr. Conrad."
"How is he?" Cesar blurted, interrupting the doctor's introduction.
"Your son will be fine," Dr. Conrad assured them. "He lost quite a bit of blood, and he'll need a lot of therapy before he'll be able to use that leg properly. But he should recover at least ninety, ninety-five percent use of his leg."
"Oh, thank God," Cesar said.
"You might thank the young lady, too," Dr. Conrad said. "Her quick thinking may well have saved Emilio's life."
Cesar beamed at his daughter as her mother hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, Claudia," Cesar said.
"Can we see him?" Sarita pleaded.
"As soon as we've moved him to a room," Dr. Conrad replied.
They settled back for another long wait, but now the fear was gone.
Claudia looked down at her scrubs and sighed.
"Don't worry about the dress," Cesar said quietly. "I would have traded all my worldly goods for my son's life. A dress is a small price to pay."
"Yes, Papa," Claudia stared at her hands.
"A detective came by while you were changing," Sarita added. "The monster who shot our Emilio is already in custody."
"Wonderful," Claudia said. She felt a jolt of satisfaction at that news.
"You were brilliant, Claudia," Cesar said. "I will never be able to thank you enough for what you have done."
Claudia shook her head. "He's my brother," she replied. "I had to do something." She wondered again why her hands weren't shaking. Was there something wrong with her? Was there something right with her?
She had saved her brother's life with no training. What would she be able to do if she were trained? Did she have what it took to be a doctor?
Claudia decided that there was only one way to find out. She looked at her parents. Medical school would be very expensive, but she was going to have to find a way.
She owed it to herself, and maybe to the other Emilios in the world.